Fly-trap.



WILLIAM;- KURLBAUM,

0F VINAL, CALIFORNIA rnv-TEAR `Specification of Letters l'atent:

Patented May 3U, 1911/.

Application meay August 15, laiciY seriell N'o.- 577,2911

T01y all' whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM KURLBAUM, citizen of the United States,residing at Vina, in the county of Tehama and State of California, haveinvented new and' useful Improvements in Fly-Traps, of which the lfollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to traps and pertainsespecially to fly traps,

The object of the' invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive,reliable and capacious device for the entrapping of insects, espe"-cially flies.

The invention consists of the parts and construction and combination ofpartsl as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectionalview. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the trap.

The present embodiment of my invention comprises an outer conical shell2 of the trap closed at the top and being secured at its base to a ring3 which may be of wood, metal or any other desirable material. The ring3 is sufficiently wide to form an annular floor for the reception ofdead insects, and is provided with an aperture 4 whereby the same may beremoved at requisite intervals. The bottom or ring 3 of the trap may beelevated a sufficient height from the floor by means of small feet 5,leaving a space of sufficient height to allow flies to pass inwardlyunder the bottom of the trap and thence upwardly into a cone 6, having aflared crown 8. A particular feature of this form of egress into thetrap is that a very large area is presented over which the flies maytravel with relative freedom after passing below the annular elevatedfloor of the ytrap 3. Having gained access to the interior of the cone6, and being attracted by suitable material deposited in a pocket 7formed by depressing the apex of the flared crown downwardly, the fliesgradually work their way toward the material, and being baflled in theirattempt to reach this by the wall of the pocket 7 will naturally passupwardly through the crown 8 of the cone 6, this crown being perforatedwith a number of suitably sized holes 9.

The multiplicity of ingress openings 9 of the crown 8 of the entrappingcone 6 is a particular feature in that, in the event of the flies beingvery numerous, and should there be only one inlet aperture in the flycone,

the ready access to the interior of the trap by the flies wouldnaturally render their being captured slower than' isthe case in my trapby reason of the large number' of ingresses 9.

In order to further prevent the possible return of the entra'pped fliesoutwardly again through the cone"` 6, I have provided an. auxiliary orinner trapping cone 10 of l suitable size and shape,- the basel of whichis co-jointly secured with the flanged bottom 6 of cone 6 to theinterior surface of the bottom rin 3. Therefore, after a fly has oncepasser through the perforations 9, it 'is then' restrained in the spaceformed between the lower cone 6 and the upper cone 10, and from thisspace it may pass into the body of the cage or trap 2 through a luralityof perforations 1l formed at the ridge of the truncated cone 10. Thiscone also has its top depressed to form an inverted cone or pocket 12 inwhich also may be placed some suitable fly attracting substance.

It will be seen then that by my construction a number of flies maysimultaneously pass through the lower ingress apertures 9 of the lowercone 6 and others may also pass simultaneously through the upper seriesof apertures l1 of the second cone 10, thus increasing the efficiency ofthe trap to that extent and further by forming a double set ofconstricted apertures through which the flies enter the cage 2, thepossibility of their return is removed. Were only one aperture providedat the apex of one of these cones, the lodgment of a single fly in theaperture would immediately render the trap useless, until thedislodgment of the fly. Thus the provision of the plurality of theingresses is an important advantage. I have found that after flies haveonce passed through the perforations 9, they are disinclined to againapproach them for some reason, and in order to prevent, however, theirpossible return to the crown of the cone 10, I support at a slightdistance above this crown a small dome or perch 13, and the flies do nothesitate in moving about within the cage 2 to alight upon this perch 13in preference to approaching the apertures 11. .This provision not onlyserves the purpose of preventing the flies from attempting to repass theapertures 11, but also in keeping them away, leaves the apertures freefor the entrance of incoming flies.

The lower cone 6 may be dispensed with entirely if so desired, and onlythe inner larger trap-cone 10 used in conjunction with the case 2.

The flange 6 of the lower cone is preferably made of such diameter thatit will snugly abut the supports 5 with suiiioient ypressure to secureitself to the bottom of the ring 3, and may be disconnected therefrom bysimply disengaging the flange 6 from the legs 5.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is- A trap comprising concentric, truncated cones, anannular ring forming a base, to the inner and outer surfaces of whichare attached the bases of said cones, a depressed, integral crown on theinner cone, a cover WILLIAM KURLBAUM.

Witnesses CHARLES A. PENFIELD, CHARLES EDELMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner ofl Patents, Washington, D. C.

